Priniatikos Pyrgos Field School
Fieldschool
A key part of the Priniatikos
Pyrgos project is our fieldschool. Every summer, between 15 – 20
students join us in Crete, where they learn about archaeology by
participating in all aspects of the project. No prior archaeological
experience is necessary, although students should be studying
archaeology or a closely related field at university. The minimum
age is 19, but there is no maximum.
Objectives
The key objectives of the PP fieldschool are as
follows:
i) To introduce students to archaeological excavation,
recording, survey, and post-ex methodologies.
ii) To demonstrate to students how an archaeological field project
is structured and how it functions on a daily and seasonal basis.
iii) To familiarise students with the archaeology of eastern Crete,
with an emphasis on understanding the cultural and economic
development of the region from the Neolithic to the late Byzantine
periods.
Learning Outcomes
At the end of the course each student
should be able to:
i) Apply standard
excavation methods to a typical Mediterranean archaeological
context.
ii) Employ
conventional recording procedures to document excavation
results.
iii) Perform preliminary processing of
artefacts using the techniques introduced during tutorials
and in the apotheke sessions.
iv) Recognize the different branches of an
archaeological field project and understand how they are
linked together.
v) Understand the
interplay between specialists and excavators in the
development of excavation strategies.
Evaluation
It is each student’s responsibility to
ensure that his/her home institution will award academic
credits for participation at PP, if so required. The
Priniatikos Pyrgos project and the Irish Institute of
Hellenic Studies at Athens are not credit-granting bodies.
Participation is not limited to those requiring academic
credits however, and any interested student may apply. All
students, however, are evaluated and receive a certificate
following their satisfactory completion of the fieldschool.
The
fieldschool final grade is determined in consultation with
the trench supervisors and field director, as well as the
apotheke managers. There main areas which are evaluated are:
fieldwork participation; notebook; final presentation;
trench tour. Further detail on this evaluation breakdown is
provided upon acceptance to the project.
The
Student Experience
The PP student experience falls into four
main categories: on site; apotheke (post-excavation work);
seminars; project life. Have a look at
our page showing the
archaeological process at work. The working week runs from Monday
through Friday, with Saturday mornings devoted to
post-excavation work, and/or fieldschool activities.
Excavation commences every morning at 6.30 sharp, and
continues until 13.30. Apotheke work or fieldschool seminars
occur in the afternoon, and the working day ends at 16.30.
Each student is assigned
to a trench, where he/she works closely with an experienced
archaeologist. Training includes
general
excavation methodology, context recording, elevation
reading, site photography, sieving, human remains removal,
section drawing, and planning. See our
glossary of archaeological terms
here. All students work in the apotheke on rotation, and assist the project specialists in
the post-excavation process. Duties here vary, but include
pottery washing and strewing, finds cataloguing and
photography, bone washing, glass conservation, data entry,
and other tasks as deemed necessary by the apotheke manager.
Afternoon lectures or practical seminars are held several
times a week and expose students to a wide variety of topics
within archaeology. Click
here to see a sample schedule.
Fieldtrips to nearby sites are arranged for Saturday
mornings. The final part of the PP fieldschool experience is
surviving general day-to-day life on an archaeological
project! Students are expected to chip in as necessary with
duties such as recycling and trash removal, but are also
encouraged to join in with all project entertainment
(previous activities have included football games, beach
trips, sampling Cretan cuisine, karaoke, pool competitions,
and the famous
PP Olympics).
Click
here to view Fieldschool activities.
Costs
Fieldschool fee covers: accommodation in
Crete; fieldschool tuition; excavation expenses.
Fee does not include:
transport to and from Crete; transport to and from Istron;
medical, travel, or accident insurance; subsistence;
personal laundry.
The cost is reassessed
annually (in euros) and can be obtained from the fieldschool
coordinator,
Dr. Jo
Day
Location
For an interactive map of the town around
the site and the location of our accommodation, click
HERE.
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FEATURES
Current News:
Fieldschool 2010
check here for announcements
Archaeology at work
Have a look at our
2008 fieldschool
Check out the crew from our
2009 fieldschool
Field School to run from July
19th to August 21st.
Istron and Priniatikos Pyrgos Map
Trenches II and III to be targeted in 2010
Glossary of Archaeological terms
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